Example of the Jiahu symbols

"Jiahu symbols" (贾湖契刻符号) refer to the 16 distinct markings on prehistoric artifacts found in Jiahu, a neolithic Peiligang culture site found in Henan, China. Dated to 6600 BC, some archaeologists believe the markings to be a writing system related to the oracle bone script (e.g. similar markings of 目 “eye”, 日 “sun; day”), but some doubt that the markings represent systematic writing at all and believe that they were simply used as pictures. The earliest evidence for a corpus of writing in the oracle bone script dates much later to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 – 1046 BC).

See also

• Neolithic signs in China
• Bronzeware script

External links

• ‘Earliest writing’ found in China at BBC News
• 中国文字体系形成的时代 (‘Time period when Chinese characters were forming’) (in Simplified Chinese)

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